LANSING – State Reps Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat came back to Lansing for the first time Tuesday since news broke of their extramarital affair and attempt to cover it up.

The first day back in session brought a slew of media to chronicle Courser and Gamrat, as well as the ongoing roads debate. The House is considering a plan that would raise $600 million in new revenue and redirect $600 million from other parts of the budget to roads.

Courser, R-Lapeer, spoke briefly to the media, sititng in the gallery a floor above the House chamber rather than on the House floor, and declined to comment on the controversy swirling around him and Gamrat.

Instead, he called for an investigation of the purchase of an office building for the state Senate, which has been in the works for several years and was finalized last year.

And he said it was important to be in Lansing as the House was beginning to debate, again, a solution for Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges.

“They’re moving forward with a huge funding package for roads and it’s obviously important,” he said. “We need to be able to have a voice here. When you’re in a situation where we’re moving forward with more taxes, more spending, more government, you need to have people who are willing to stand and be able to do that. Even though I’m having personal situations, it’s important to take those steps and do the things we’re responsible to do.”

Gamrat, R-Plainwell, also was in the House of Representatives on the first day back after a month-long summer break, but she declined to comment on the controversy.

In late May, Courser distributed an anonymous, fake e-mail accusing himself of paying for gay sex outside a Lansing nightclub — what Courser described in a conversation taped by an aide, who was later fired, as a “complete smear campaign” that would make reports of an extramarital affair with Gamrat seem mild by comparison.

The e-mail, which was widely sent to Republicans, was an over-the-top indictment of Courser as a sexual deviant. In the audio recording, Courser read portions of the e-mail to the aide and said it was “a burn,” “a scam,” to try to “innoculate the herd from gutter politics that are coming.”

The aide urged him to forget the scheme and resign. Courser and Gamrat are both married with kids — Courser has four and Gamrat has three.

Courser has since said that he was being blackmailed and that he sent the e-mail to try and discover the identity of that person.

The pair are facing an internal investigation ordered by Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant. The House of Representatives Business Office will conduct the investigation and could levy punishment — such as reimbursing the state for inappropriately used state funds — or they could refer the matter to another law enforcement or state agency for further action.

The pair also could face removal from office if the House decides to seek and pass a resolution, which would need two-thirds support from the 110-member House.